Top Artists – John Lennon

John Lennon – Walls and Bridges

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  • This Shootout Winning copy was doing everything right — stunning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or very close to it throughout
  • Both of these sides are full-bodied, rich and Tubey Magical with lots of extension on both ends
  • These early British pressings are the only way to go – the domestic pressings are clearly made from dubs
  • “…the best moments come when Lennon is more open with his emotions, like on “Going Down on Love,” “Steel and Glass,” and the beautiful, soaring ‘No. 9 Dream.'”

Walls and Bridges may not be the high point of Lennon’s solo career but there are some wonderful songs on this album and it was quite a treat to finally hear them sound right. It’s tough to find Hot Stamper John Lennon albums so if you’re a fan I think you’ll be very pleased at what a serious step up in quality this copy represents over any other you might have heard.

Going Down On Love and Old Dirt Road (co-written with Harry Nilsson!) are especially lovely.

Some classic tracks that everybody knows are here as well: #9 Dream, Whatever Gets You Thru The Night and Nobody Loves You (When You’re Down And Out). (more…)

John Lennon – Plastic Ono Band

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  • Incredible sound for this early UK pressing with both sides earning Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades, an excellent way to hear these amazing songs
  • Working Man’s Hero, Love, Mother — these are immortal Lennon tracks, all with stunning sound on these White Hot sides
  • 5 stars: “It’s an unflinching document of bare-bones despair and pain, but for all its nihilism, it is ultimately life-affirming; it is unique not only in Lennon’s catalog, but in all of popular music. Few albums are ever as harrowing, difficult, and rewarding as John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.”

Incredible sound for this John Lennon classic! I would be hard pressed to tell you whether this or Imagine is his best sounding recording, because on the very best copies they can both be killer. Our first White Hot copy only made it to the site in 2016 — it took us a long time to find the right pressings of this album, and then years more to get enough in stock to do a major shootout. As you can imagine, clean early UK pressings of Lennon’s albums are hard to come by and pricey when you find them. (more…)